Diwali 2008

We started our Diwali early morning with a few quick calls to India. At my sister’s home in Bangalore – my sister, cousin and their kids were just about done bursting crackers and were sitting down for dinner together… I could almost feel the festive spirit back there. At my parent’s, it was much quieter, getting ready to retire for the day. With the exception of one family in their buidling, almost noone else had small kids, a stark contrast from my childhood days when there were 35-40 kids in the complex we lived in - enough to have no place to burst crackers sometimes. Following the phone calls, I sat down to work for the day and saw a flurry of emails with Diwali wishes in my inbox. And then I was lost in my own world, working until late evening, engrossed in work and unaware of anything else. Suddenly, as if I was shaken up,  I got a call from my sister-in-law reminding us of coming to their house in the evening.  It was almost dark and I had barely switched on any lights in the house. I scrambled to get ready as we were running late and we had to visit two homes. It then occurred to Delip and me that we didn’t have a single lamp or a diya for our house. It would have been nice to make the home a little more cheerful, but given our busy day, we didn’t exactly have the inclination or energy to do so.  We looked at each other and shrugged it off… there is always the next year. We managed to swing by both our families – here people were certainly more relaxed and in a festive spirit. Even a single lamp/diya, as the one above, makes such a lot of difference! I think having kids around at home too makes a difference to Diwali. My nephew burnt some sparklers that night for the very first time.. and just couldn’t contain his excitment. After a couple of hrs of time with our families and an elaborate feast, we drove back home  quietly to start yet another year until the next  Diwali.

Durga Puja in Bay Area

Yesterday evening I made a trip with Delip to the Durga Puja festivals being celebrated at the Sunnyvale temple in South Bay Area. We heard the sound of the Dhols (or drums) from a distant parking lot and wondered about the people living around the temple area. The sound of Drums/Dhols somehow reminded me of the energy of Durga Puja celebrations in India, specifically in West Bengal, where I lived for a majority of my life. When we arrived at the temple, we thought we were seeing a microcosm of Durga Puja celebrations in India – Kids were running around in new sparkly clothes and women were all dressed up in their newest saris and accessories. Inside a huge makeshift tent, there were long queues at the food stalls (as if people couldn’t have enough food), and lots of other stalls trying to sell something or the other, whether it was mehndi tatto or Hanuman DVDs or shawls or Indian clothes. I even ran into some batch-mates from almost 13 yrs ago that I hadn’t met since graduating from college.

For us and my brother’s family, who had joined us at the temple, it was a quick trip and back on a weekday evening. But some people had been visiting the Pandal everyday since the past three days… such is the energy and devotion to Durga Puja amongst many members of the community, specifically Bengalis. I simply love their energy and enthusiasm for Durga Pujas. It is such a lively experience. I used to look forward to Pujas as a kid as it meant balloons, books, new clothes, going out with girlfriends and spending all my days at the Puja Pandal eating all that we could and being merry. While symbolically Durga Puja has a deeper meaning, and I am sure many people go there to pray and connect with their spiritual side, for me all it meant was three full days of being able to set aside your worries and just enjoying yourself in the present moment.